In this position he passed the entire night, only moving occasionally to keep from being covered with snow.

Mrs.Reed spread down a shawl, placed her four children--Virginia, Patty, James, and Thomas--thereon, and putting another shawl over them, sat by the side of her babies during all the long hours of darkness.

Every little while she was compelled to lift the upper shawl and shake off the rapidly accumulating snow.
"With slight interruptions, the storm continued several days.

The mules and oxen that had always hovered about camp were blinded and bewildered by the storm, and straying away were literally buried alive in the drifts.

What pen can describe the horror of the position in which the emigrants found themselves?
It was impossible to move through the deep, soft snow without the greatest effort.